New Assistant

I would like to welcome Matt Kiefer to our team.  Matt will be our Assistant Golf Course Superintendent.  He is from the Webster area, A NSU Graduate and has been around Aberdeen since.  I am looking forward to starting the season with Matt on our team. 

Tree removal on the course is all but done for the winter.  There is still some stump grinding to accomplish.  We will continue to work on the trees around the driving range as weather permits.  When out cutting trees we remove a small cottonwood tree west of #7, no it was not the big cottonwood tree.  Upon cutting we found out why the tree was not healthy, also not very safe.  As you can see below most of the trunk is rotten inside.  Not sure of the cause of this, just glad it is gone. 

March is here and I am hoping the golf season is not too far away!

We will see you on the course soon. 

Ross

Snow!!

We finally received a good snow, 4-5” of cover. Yes it is always a little worked to plow the snow, but this is what we we have been waiting for all winter.  Despite the lack of snow cover the golf course looks to remain in good shape heading toward spring. 

Now we are dealing with some colder temps, all is good. 

Tree removal is wrapping up for the season. We still have a few smaller trees to address, that with stump grinding should get us in good shape going into the golf season. 

Days are getting longer and the sun has more intensity!!

Spring will be here soon!

Ross

Starting out the New Year

Here we are in the middle of January.  Last week we were out cutting down dead trees in 30 degree weather.  Now Today a projected high -5.  So yes taoday we are working in the shop.  What will next week bring?

The golf course is in good shape right now.  The only concern right now is the lack of snow cover with these extreme temperatures.  Under conditions like this you can get some desiccation on the exposed turf plants.  The exposed plants basically freeze dry out, not giving them much of a chance for survival.  We do treat our greens for this with a heavy sand topdressing and a anti-desiccant.  As stated before currently everything looks to be in good shape. 




Last Fall we hired a company to come in and take down 10 of our bigger cotton wood trees that are dying out.  They have all their equipment on site, now waiting for Mother Nature to provide some normal like weather. 

Do you have any great new ideas for the new season?
Please Share.


Ross

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year from the Maintenance Staff At MC3. 

Wishing each of you a Happy and Prosperous year. 

It’s a mere -29 out this morning.  

We are thankful to have a small blanket of snow protecting  the course.  What will the New Year have I store for us this year??

All The Best in 2018!

Ross

Merry Christmas

Well it sure looks like we will have a brown Christmas this year in Aberdeen.  Having no snow is not the ideal thing for the course, so far the course looks to be handling the moisture free winter in great shape.  Any moisture some time soon would be great. So far this winter we have hand watered the sand based greens twice.  It is important to keep moisture in the root zone of the plant, especially when it is dry and exposed.  We will continue to monitor the moisture level in the greens and add water as needed. 

The warmer temps has allowed the maintenance staff to work on some tree removal. Shown below is us removing some of the dead cotton woods near the driving range. There are more in this area that have meet their life expectancy and will be removed. 

When not outside the focus is working on equipment and accessories for next season. Below the fairway yardage plates received a fresh coat of paint.  

Thank You for another great golf season 

Merry Christmas from the Maintenance Staff. 

Ross

2017 Season it’s a wrap

I hope you found sometime to come out and enjoy some December golf!!!  When you live in Aberdeen that does not happen often.  Monday the cold, wind and snow moved in.  Yes the greens are closed until spring.  What Mother Nature brings the rest of the winter is unknown, for now we are ready. 

One of the items we have been working on is our bunker rake this winter. We have installed all new rake heads and some smoother tires. The smoother tires will accomplish two things, first they will be less aggressive when raking the bunkers and second we have been using this machine to brush the greens and the previous tires left some marks on the greens.  I am sure we will see great results when put into use next year. 

Thank You for another great season!

If you have any comments please contact me. 

Looking forward to 2018. 

Ross

November course update

November has been a busy month for the maintenance staff. Started off the month with winterizing the course, finished that just in time for a brief cold spell. We then planted some trees on the south and east side of the driving range. This is a result of expected traffic increases along those roads. This should give us a good start to a buffer zone between us and the road. Expect more trees next Spring. 

We also started removing some of the dead trees on the course.  As weather permits we will continue through out the winter.  Shown below is a couple trees left of 7 that were dead. 

Now with the dry weather, we are experiencing, we are  out watering greens. I guess you have to be prepared for anything this time of year. Shown below we are using a water tank, sprayer and hoses off the Club House to water some of the most dry greens. 

I am sure hoping for some moisture soon. As this year has gone it could be dry for some time. 

This is the time of year we are planning for the next season. If you have any great ideas please feel free to share them with any of the staff or Board members. 

Wishing each of you a Happy Thanksging with Family and Friends!!

Ross